I used to write for Immanence magazine between the years of 2007 and 2010. I wrote under several pseudonyms, on several different subjects. As Morag Grayheart, I wrote a column called The Isis Crisis: Old Gods for a New World.
The idea behind the column was that I’d give a short snippet on a pagan deity, maybe with some ideas on how to honor said deity, or maybe just a view at the mythology. Sometimes I was a sarcastabitch, and sometimes I was just plain wrong. Deadlines and procrastination while writing about deities you don’t always know personally? Yeah, not a good combo. Add the alcohol usually present, the limited space I had to write, and the audience I was writing for? Well.
(If you see an article about a goddess you work with and you see that I got it totally wrong and you want to tell me…you may, if you’re nice about it. My email is morag[dot]spinner[at]gmail[dot]com. I realize that I probably got a lot of stuff wrong, and I’m always willing to learn. So long as people aren’t assholes about it.)
Regardless, there may be something good in these articles, if only a reminder to myself to not be so stupid again. At any rate, I decided I wanted to have them all in one easy-to-find place, and here seemed a good bet.
You’ll probably notice that all of these articles are about goddesses. That’s on purpose. I wanted the first batch of column entries to be about female deities, because we live in a male-centric world and it was important to me to centre women’s — and goddesses’ — voices. I never got to writing about male gods before I stopped writing for the magazine.
You’ll also notice that some of the articles are actually about holidays more than goddesses. I’m assuming that happened because I was under deadline and running out of ideas and time to do any research.
All the articles appear here unchanged from their original form, aside from one or two small typos. That means that yes, I did used to think matron was the correct feminine form of patron. Forgive my formerly fluffy self.
Isis, Queen of All Gods
This column is partly history, partly mythology, partly religion. It is an attempt to reawaken knowledge of the Divine in All Life. …
Nut, She Who Holds A Thousand Souls
Nut (also known as Nuit, Newt, and Neuth) is the Egyptian Goddess who personifies Sky. …
Hathor, Egypt’s Milky Way
Hathor, ancient Egyptian cow-goddess, was seen as the personification of the Milky Way. She stood in cow form upon the earth, Her four legs holding up the firmament, which was Her belly. …
Kali, Enemy of Ego
Kali is a more misunderstood Goddess of the world. We can all get behind the endless-love-compassion thing. But death and destruction? Scary! …
Pele, She-Who-Shapes-the-Sacred-Land
Pele (PAY-lay) is the Hawaiian Goddess of volcanoes. Passionate, fiery, and with a fierce temper, Pele is a continually visual deity in the Hawaiian pantheon. …
Green Tara: Mother of Enlightened Activity
The Tara Goddess figure has many shapes and forms, spanning both Hinduism and Buddhism. Hindus regard Tara as a Mother Goddess, appearing beside other Goddesses of the Hindu pantheon. The Boddhisattva Tara is seen as the Mother of All Buddhas–hence containing the wisdom of all the Buddhas. …
Eostara, the Triumph of Light Over Dark
As crocuses appear out of the snow and the days slowly lengthen, we count down to the Vernal Equinox, the day night and day are of equal length (equinox literally means equal night), a sign of warmer days to come. …
Firm Dirt, Earth as Goddess: Revering Gaia
Since Her conception, people have been screwing with Gaia, the Greek Earth goddess and grassroots-slang term for our terra firma. Gaia had offspring by the hundreds-She gave birth to all creation, after all-populating the annals of Greek myth with Titans, furies, nymphs, and giants. …
Harmonia: most ironically-named Goddess ever
Greek mythology is full of lulz, and the myth of Harmonia is no different. This goddess of harmony was born of one of Aphrodite’s illicit affairs—with Ares, god of war. …
Fires of Purification: the meaning of Imbolc
Imbolc is on February 2nd. It is a Celtic fire festival dedicated to purification and the Goddess Brighid (also Bride, Brid, Brigit, Bridget, Ffraid, Mary of the Gael, and Saint Brigid). …